Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

[I understand, I'm just a little apprehensive about returning home. His Holiness Atlach was my teacher, he was like another father to me, and he must have officiated at the funeral of Galaron, the Water Angel. After all that, will Galaron's resurrection disturb him?]

Lyle sensed Galaron's cowardice. He turned his head, the pointed mouth on his mask parallel to the wall.

“He is a pope, and just now he was sitting at a table with a group of alien races who had been sentenced to death by the Holy Light. You should have more faith in this old man. What could be more inspiring than letting him know that an angel has survived?”

Galaron chuckled softly, having regained his composure and once again become the leader of the water.

[Of course! I can tell His Holiness the Pope that I have found a Holy Son recognized by Raymond, and he is the key to saving the world and restoring the Holy Light.]

Lyle raised his hands in surrender and said helplessly, "Please spare me. I'm not good at handling these things. Don't drag me into your joyous reunion, please, Mr. Galaron."

Leaving behind a final joke, Galarón flew toward the pope who was communicating with someone else. The old man maintained a humble and gentle smile, looking nothing like a survivor who had suffered a great tragedy.

Lyle remained standing in the shadows of the stone wall, mischievously anticipating what kind of expression the composed pope would display behind him.

Nia climbed onto his back, preparing to perch on his shoulder as usual, her tentacles twitching in the air.

"Nia senses your gaze, Lyle!"

Lyle was initially a little nervous, but then he felt that since they were now in the academy's headquarters, there was no need to panic about the lack of visibility. He rubbed the tips of Nia's tentacles, and the Dark Star Plague Doctor moved his fingers, trying to restore the president's authority.

"Nia, tell me where the spy is."

Following Nia's directions, Dr. Birdbeak saw the tin can.

【Oh no】The ominous sign is laughing wildly.

【Oh no】The ominous sign from the deep sea made me feel as if a great calamity was about to befall me.

The holy light erupted, startling a passing lich who stumbled. He glanced at the female knight with her hair flying beside him, then retreated and ran away at top speed.

"Lyle!!!"

The Plague Doctor was thankful for the wall behind him; his limp body leaned against the cold stone. He only wished for Mr. Galaron, with whom he had reminisced, to return quickly. Lyle felt his brain melting as the ominous laughter echoed in his mind, frantically searching for a solution. Seeing Karen approaching menacingly, Lyle Buller stopped thinking.

With a loud bang, Karen's punch, landing ten centimeters from Lyle's left ear, shattered the wall behind Andrei, sending stone chips flying. Karen huddled around herself, head bowed, her body trembling. Lyle clutched his chest, his ears ringing, too terrified to breathe loudly.

After pondering for a while, Lyle tried to bridge the gap in their estranged relationship.

"You have to pay for the damaged wall."

"..." There was no answer, but the paladin's trembling stopped.

Mr. Law happened to be passing by. He glanced at the scene and stared intently at Lyle. Mr. Plague Doctor, as if seeing a savior, craned his neck and mouthed the words. He forgot he was wearing a mask, and Mr. Law seemed unwilling to administer justice at such a sensitive time.

"The losses will be on your head, Plague Doctor. Your Holy Light will handle its own affairs." Law turned and left, leaving behind a ticket.

When he left, it seemed he took away the last sound with him. The scene fell silent. They could hear each other's heartbeats, but Lyle sensed more.

"Long time no see, Karen."

The paladin withdrew his fist and placed his softened hand on Lyle's shoulder.

“That’s great…” Her voice was broken, each syllable punctuated by sobs. Karen looked up, tears streaming down her face. “You’re alright, Lyle…”

“Karen…” Lyle’s body became her support. Across an arm’s length, Lyle watched the paladin pour out her heart with tears in her eyes, talking about how the judge knights disappeared one by one, about the priests’ quarrels and hesitations, about the nuns’ worries, and about the fears she had never dared to speak of.

“I don’t know what an angel should do, but everyone is looking to me. I only met His Majesty Raymond because I was with you, Lyle. I have no idea if I have the talent His Majesty Atlas spoke of. Father has fallen, and the commander of the Algernon Legion has fallen. I’m scared, Lyle, but their eyes are on me, and they won’t allow me to say ‘no.’”

Completely opening her heart, Lyle looked at the little girl who had once followed her, feeling compassion. Driven by the inexplicable expectations of the Holy Light, her own insecurity and anxieties about her abilities, and the unfamiliar affection and kindness that propelled her forward, she hadn't initially acted of her own volition, yet reaching this point was astonishing. Perhaps it was this similarity that made Karen dependent on Lyle.

"Thank you for your hard work, Karen."

"For the Holy Light!" Karen answered reflexively, her face flushed, tears still on her cheeks, as she began to giggle foolishly.

“I just overheard your conversation with His Majesty Galaron. As expected of Lyle, you two must be discussing something important. Lord Lyle, is there anything Paladin Karen can do for you?”

Becoming an angel brought almost no change to Karen. Lyle laughed, adopted a confident posture, took her hand, and led her into the interior of Andre Castle.

“I need you to rest. Come, Sister Ariane is here too. It’s time for family to reunite, Karen.”

"Auntie!" she exclaimed in surprise, stretching out her other arm armor to vigorously wipe her face. The metal armor didn't absorb water very well, so in the end, Lyle lent her a sleeve.

After confirming with Lofdy, Karen stepped into the Holy Light Chapel of Andre Academy. Lyle stood outside the door, gave Lofdy a few words of advice, and then quietly left.

[Everything is going well, Lyle.] Galaron is back, and his radiance seems a little brighter.

“I really can’t handle reunions, Mr. Galarón.”

Galarón, not understanding what was going on, still chuckled and said.

What we do is refuse to lose. Without separation, there is no need for reunion.

Chapter 835 Preparations (Part 3)

On the way back, Mr. Law hummed a song, savoring the pleasure of yet another execution of justice. Although an enforcer shouldn't harbor personal feelings, Mr. Law still derives a genuine pleasure from punishing his junior, especially now that the Literary Club's misdeeds have subsided. He finds himself in his familiar work, and even experiences a strange sense of ritual in punishing the Plague Doctor.

The last punishment carried out before the war was against the Plague Doctor, who was the nascent form of an evil god. Just as a skull fits perfectly on the spine, the comfortable meshing of the gears of fate gave Law a sense of divine inspiration. A strong intuition led Law to decide to end his work as an executioner and devote himself to war preparations. He strode back to the Magic Research Society.

The magic mirror, which had been placed in its original position, was removed, but that didn't matter; all the hidden doors were now open, and the various rooms of the Magic Research Society were like drawers embedded in the walls, ready to be opened at any time. Enveloped in magic, Mr. Law appeared in the hall in the blink of an eye. Mr. Miracle sat behind a large desk copying scrolls, and the members of the research society lined up to receive his newly written scrolls. Several scrolls, each with different colors of text and stamps, hung on the bookshelf behind him, each displaying a different deceptive scroll effect.

Mr. Law stood at the door, a strong sense of unease making him hesitate, as if something was missing. Was it because Miracle and the others were too honest?

"Law: There is no place to hide here! Anyone who violates this rule will be beheaded!"

The deep blue magical text flew straight toward Miracle's skull. Miracle turned his head to look at it, and after the law's decree exploded and faded on his body, he remained unchanged.

"So you've finally fallen ill too, Law?"

With his hands behind his back, Mr. Law bowed directly to his friend in apology, still somewhat annoyed at his miscalculation as he stood up.

“You guys are so normal it’s almost unsettling; it just doesn’t feel right.”

Inspiration came from behind another door, carrying a stack of enchanted equipment into the main hall, then turned and walked towards another door of light.

"Without companions, without inspiration, without fun."

“Your suspicions hurt me deeply, Law.” Miracle lay on the table, scribbling on the paper without even looking at the contents, then fixed the scroll and tossed it to his silent companion.

"My wariness of you is precisely a form of trust. Where is Mr. Mirror?"

"Who knows?" Miracle shrugged and threw himself into drawing the next volume of Deep Sea Deception Spells. "Mirror left in a hurry, and before leaving, he even told me to arm the gang and hand it over to me? Heh heh, the president is indeed the president, completely different from you, Law."

The law moved toward the cleared-out pile of miscellaneous items and began searching for usable things in the collection.

"That's because he hasn't personally experienced the destructive power he has against you. Once he goes to the Executive Committee to pick up someone, Jing's trust in you will vanish like a vampire seeing the light."

With the war mobilization spearheaded by the Dean, most clubs at Andre Academy ceased their research and converted their findings into combat power. Without the world, there are no resources, no testing grounds, and no experimental purpose. The lich and the evil god seeking to unify the world are fundamentally in conflict; their unyielding obsession with peace drives them to express their individuality, believing themselves to be special individuals superior to the "ordinary masses," deserving special treatment. But these are things the Sleeper doesn't need; He only desires matter and souls, treating everything as recycled resources for building a new world. This deeply wounds the spellcasters' pride, so much so that even acknowledging their weakness, they refuse to submit.

But liches are also cold and rational, and their ability to think things through can lead to a variety of choices. Even if the administrator establishes the main path, the executors below may not necessarily follow it obediently.

Jing stood before Tianqi, the president of the Magic Research Society facing the senior president of the Magic Research Society. Tianqi, clad in plate armor, sat on his throne, a massive energy pipe piercing the ground connected to his armor via pipelines. Tianqi looked at his junior, his aloof indifference like a barrier between them.

Do not meddle with power you are not qualified to possess.

"The praise from ordinary people makes you think you're great. Carrying the burden of a thousand failures won't bring you any closer to greatness. Mirror, clumsy imitation will only make you a lowly shadow, and you'll always be stuck in the same place."

“Inheriting the old man’s legacy, huh? That ridiculous gang he abandoned, and you’ve picked up the bones he threw away, like a gleeful dog.”

The same conduit appeared behind the mirror, and Apocalypse's armor appeared on his body. His demeanor and expression overlapped with Apocalypse's as he trembled.

“You should be respectful to your mentor, Apocalypse, you ingrate.”

Apocalypse glared at him, and through the gap in his helmet, Mirror caught a glimpse of his dangerous gaze. The mirrored world behind him began to collapse. The mirror world had failed in its attempt to replicate Apocalypse's power; the uncontrolled annihilation tore Mirror's body apart completely. The explosion was confined to a tiny space within him, accompanied by a flash of white light. Mirror crashed into the mud, his left arm gone, seven ribs broken, and his legs seemingly sliced ​​off smoothly by a plane tilted at a thirty-degree angle, the rest disappearing completely.

Apocalypse stood up and walked towards the losers.

"Progress is unstoppable."

Reflective crystal fragments sprouted from Jing's body, and the soil beneath him turned into a gleaming silver metal. On the other side, his disheveled appearance appeared, and the person in the mirror wore a completely different smile, twisting into a pitch-black shadow in the light and shadow.

"The gap between you and me has existed since our student days. You are more dull, more lazy, and more cowardly. What I truly despise is your blindness to the truth, Mirror. The path he points to should be visible to us with our abilities. It is the path he has walked, a smooth road with a clear end. You and I both know what that means: it means becoming him, a magic king produced on an assembly line."

"You're overwhelmed by his achievements; you dare not question him, dare not resist him. Because he is your teacher, the existing authority. You've lost the most fundamental desire for exploration that a spellcaster should have—that's the difference between you and me now."

"Take that loyalty and go to hell with him, you piece of trash."

Apocalypse's iron boots fell mercilessly, shattering the mirror's surface into pieces. The mirror lay on the ground, watching the fragments rain down on it. It saw Apocalypse turn and return to the throne, the glowing energy device behind him operating tirelessly.

Electromagnetic emerged from the corner of his line of sight, glanced at the lich lying there, and then looked away.

"Boss, the magnetic track launcher is ready."

"What is that? Your new weapon?" Jing got up again.

Apocalypse glanced disapprovingly at the lich, who had just been nearly killed, and was annoyed by his tenacious regenerative abilities.

"Since this planet is destined to be destroyed, our Advanced Magic Research Society has decided to find another experimental planet."

"You're trying to escape?"

"The macroscopic concepts of advanced magical research do not exist in the knowledge of evil gods. Even if this world is reconstructed, our power will not be reduced in the slightest. On the contrary, even if we defeat the evil gods, our power will not increase in the slightest. We are irrelevant to the war against the evil gods, so why should we waste our time on your survival?"

"you!!"

Before Jing could finish his rant, Tianqi activated the teleportation array and launched his remains back. Electromagnetic stood to the side, watching its silent leader.

"Not telling the truth?"

"Every word I said was true."

"Yes, boss, I understand. The magnetic rail launcher does have the capability to land on the moon, and relocating to new planets was also part of our expansion plan, but wasn't that rejected by you personally?"

"Electromagnetism, I hate it when people tell me what to do, even if I have that intention myself."

Electromagnetic nodded in understanding, and made a sewing motion near its mouth, then...

"So the launcher's crosshair needs to be moved from the designated battlefield to the moon?"

"You're looking for death? I'll grant your wish."

Chapter 836 Advance

The toe bone sank into the black mud, ignoring the mud clinging upwards, and the swaying figure continued to step, stepping into the clearing made by the previous step. The stiff body cracked and splintered, and through the gaps between the ribs of the former, one could barely make out the divine realm of the evil god being trampled amidst the layers of bones. Even with the leg bone broken, the pelvis remained suspended in mid-air, preventing it from falling. There were stiff companions in front and behind, dark red flesh tangled around the upper body, binding the form together like a moving haystack.

Once the entire hundred-man squad was crushed and overwhelmed, new skeletons trampled over their bodies, forging new paths, layer upon layer, covering the black mud and creating a land of bones amidst the encirclement of the black tide.

A unique skeleton, its skull wreathed in eerie blue flames, stood behind the building materials. Frost sprayed from its wrists and mouth, freezing the ground, especially the weak points that were beginning to blacken. This frost-covered skeleton possessed a degree of intelligence, allowing it to use magic and assess the battlefield environment.

“Aishalara katagali!”